VACAVILLE, Calif. — ICON Aircraft has made major changes to this year’s A5 delivery plan, significantly reducing production of the light-sport aircraft. These changes are part of a strategy to improve the A5 production processes and manufacturing supply chain, while simultaneously supporting flight training for ICON customers, according to ICON officials. Plans announced May 25 include: A […]
ICON Aircraft
Flying Icon’s A5 LSA seaplane
The Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) sector is aviation’s newest and most prolific with numerous outstanding aircraft available from Europe and the United States. Europeans seemed to own the category at first because regulations on the other side of the Atlantic permitted companies to fully build very similar aircraft. When the FAA caught up by releasing the […]
ICON delivers first customer A5 to Young Eagles
On opening day of AirVenture, ICON Aircraft CEO and Founder Kirk Hawkins handed the keys of the first customer A5 to EAA Young Eagles Chairman and aerobatic pilot Sean Tucker, who accepted the aircraft on behalf of the organization, alongside EAA Chairman Jack Pelton. The aircraft, Aircraft Serial Number 001 (ASN-001), will participate in Young Eagles […]
First flight for first customer ICON A5
ICON Aircraft reports that its first customer aircraft completed its inaugural flight April 24 at the company’s R&D facility in Tehachapi, California. “Following a successful high-speed taxi test, A5 ASN-1 (Aircraft Serial Number 1) took to the air and performed its initial flight flawlessly,” ICON’s Craig Bowers reported. Test pilot and Lead Aero Engineer Jon […]
First production ICON A5 flies
OSHKOSH — The night before EAA AirVenture opened, ICON Aircraft unveiled the first production A5, an aircraft the company refers to as Engineering Serial Number 1 (ESN-1). This is the first A5 built from the production design, with production tooling, and using production methods and components. ESN-1 was built over a five-month period, from January to […]
ICON to relocate to Vacaville
LOS ANGELES — ICON Aircraft will relocate to the City of Vacaville in Northern California, located approximately 50 miles northeast of San Francisco. Beginning in the first quarter of 2015, the company will begin operating in a 140,000-square-foot facility adjacent to the Vacaville airport, also known as the Nut Tree Airport. ICON intends to consolidate […]
FAA delays decision on Icon weight increase
FAA officials have informed Icon Aircraft that a decision on the company’s request for an exemption to the Light-Sport Aircraft weight limitations for its amphibious Icon A5 won’t be made until the end of the year, according to a report at AOPA.org. Icon Aircraft founder Kirk Hawkins asked for an exemption in May to increase […]
Thinking about buying an Icon A5?
OSHKOSH — Icon Aircraft has reduced the deposit for an A5 position from $5,000 to $2,000 as part of an AirVenture special. The offer will apply to any order placed in person or online during the week of the show (July 23-29). The company also said it will donate $100 to the Seaplane Pilots Association […]
Is spin resistance a big deal? Well, yes!
On Memorial Day I had a chance to visit Icon Aircraft and spend some time with CEO Kirk Hawkins. We met seven years ago — just after the Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA) rule was released — near the beginning of his ambitions to create an entirely clean-sheet LSA amphibian. Recently, Icon released a video to […]